Browsing by Author "Muzvidziwa, Victor Ngonidzashe."

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Eco-tourism, conservancies and sustainable development : the case of Zimbabwe.
(Kamla-Raj Enterprises., 2013) Muzvidziwa, Victor Ngonidzashe.
The paper presents a definition of eco-tourism that puts an emphasis on conservation through utilisation, instead of an emphasis on preservation only. Eco-tourism in this paper is seen as incorporating both consumptive and non-consumption aspects. It is a definition that stresses community participation in decision making processes in relation to eco-touristic ventures and subsequent benefits derived from such ventures flowing back to local communities. The paper examines the triple role of eco-tourism in the protection, utilisation and conservation of natural and cultural resources. Tourism is by far a sector that continues to play a positive socioeconomic role in the midst of a declining economic base in the Zimbabwe of the post 2000 period. The paper views conservancies as tenurial units and goes further to examine the link between conservancies and eco-touristic ventures. The issue of sustainable eco-tourism developments in the form of conservancies is debated in the paper in the light of the socio-economic challenges Zimbabwe is going through. It is strongly argued that to avoid another case of entrenched failed development, conservancies need to be seen in a holistic manner that takes into account the role of all stakeholders or actors including the role of local communities.
An investigation of methods used by the southern Nguni in healing ukuhanjwa illness.
(2015) Ngqila, Kholekile Hazel.; Muzvidziwa, Victor Ngonidzashe.
Beliefs about health, as well as what makes people ill, are strongly influenced by culture. Beliefs tend to guide people as far as which healing approach they should apply. Hence, the focus of the thesis was on the source of the healing power in terms of preferred healing methods, and how these healing methods connect to the illness, ukuhanjwa. The research embraces attributional theory which recognises that certain illnesses are attributed to spiritual and social causes rather than biomedical causes. The study opts for a holistic healing approach to understanding ukuhanjwa. The Southern Nguni’s recognition of ukuhanjwa defines the illness as entry into the body by ‘familiars’. An examination of the specific healing methods used by the Southern Nguni reveals a socially constructed causal link between ukuhanjwa and the familiars. Issues explored included the source of healing power in the preferred healing method; the conceptualisation of ukuhanjwa; healing of ukuhanjwa as a cultural phenomenon; the social construction of authenticity in the efficacy of the healing methods; and the continued use of the preferred healing methods despite the evolution of biomedical healing methods. The ethnographic study took place in the OR Tambo District Municipality (ORTDM) in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Data was collected using qualitative and ethnographic research methods focusing on in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and observations amongst a sample group of 50 participants. Regarding the focus of the study, which was on the source of the healing power of traditional healing methods, findings revealed four sources of the healing power. Findings also revealed that biomedical healing methods have been popularly portrayed to be superior. This caused the Southern Nguni people to conclude that all those illnesses which cannot be recognised or cured by using biomedical health system are invisible. The supposed invisibility of ukuhanjwa emanates from the fact that biomedical practitioners separate the cause of the illness from the symptoms and find little correlation between the symptoms. The Southern Nguni do not separate the symptoms from one another, just as they do not separate the symptoms from the cause. This results in a linguistic and diagnostic discourse regarding the approach used by the Southern Nguni and that used by biomedical practitioners in dealing with ukuhanjwa. The Southern Nguni preference for traditional healing methods has to do with the view that ritual purification of the victim is the best way of dealing with spiritually caused illnesses such as ukuhanjwa to expel spiritual pollution for holistic (spiritual and physical) healing. Ritual purification is believed to have the necessary ‘cooling’ effect for expelling spiritual pollution from the victim – hence the Southern Nguni people resort to pluralistic tendencies in healing. Four sources of the healing power in traditional healing meathods have been established. The first is the natural magic and spiritual power resulting from God’s signature, working by ‘sympathetic magic’. The second is the level of trust, belief and faith that Southern Nguni people have in the efficacy of the healing power and the person recommending the healing method. The last two sources were found to be the ritual timing and ritual space for successful healing of ukhanjwa illness. Traditional people tend to lack the patience for preventive measures. They prefer dramatic, visual and once-off healing methods. What does not work for them is slow, consistent healing methods and preventive measures which work in unseen ways – hence they fail to use preventive measures for ukuhanjwa.
A qualitative study focusing on coping mechanisms for black diabetic women between the ages of 40-50 years.
(2012) Scina, Yonela.; Muzvidziwa, Victor Ngonidzashe.
This is a study on black diabetic women in Durban, UMlazi N Section in South Africa. The study seeks to explore the cultural meanings that are attached to diabetes as well as examine the coping mechanisms that the women in the study used to manage diabetes. The study further investigates the existence of social networks within the community where diabetic women live and how these networks enable women to cope with their condition. This study also discusses how women receive information at the clinic on how to manage their diabetes. The study adopts a qualitative research design. The research techniques that are used in the study are in-depth interviews and semi-structured interviews. Participant observation techniques were also adopted in this study. Interactions with the women took place at the clinic, their homes, and during the group meetings that they hold every month with Diabetes South Africa at the clinic. Participant observation managed to shed light of the diabetic women's lived experiences. Two theoretical perspectives were adopted in this study. These namely the social network theory and social capital theory. The women's background, family life experiences and networks all contributed to a rich understanding of issues and diabetic women's experiences. This study demonstrated the important role culture plays in the lives of the participants. Cultural background influenced a lot of decisions that the diabetic women made with regards to their health seeking behaviour. Cultural forces included religious and traditional beliefs‟ influences. The education that the women got at the clinic was good and it enabled them to manage their diabetes and to understand that diabetes is not umeqo or idliso.